Host: John Russell, MD

Throughout history, diseases have acquired names from geographical landmarks, the name of the organism, the anatomy impacted, and even the media. But some naming conventions have resulted in negative consequences, which is why the World Health Organization established best practices for naming novel diseases in 2015.

Here to walk us through those guidelines and to give us a brief history of how some well-known diseases—including the COVID-19 pandemic the world is currently facing—gained their name is Dr. John Russell.

Published April 21, 2020